She Made It, Then Dumped Me

My girlfriend, Laura Dawson, once asked me a question. "If you ever made it big, would you leave me behind?" I told her no. For six years after that, I stood beside her through every low point in her life. Then the tables turned, and she was the one who made it big. At the Best Actress awards ceremony, she stood there with tears in her eyes, ready to announce the man she'd loved for years. The spotlight swept right past me and landed on the young man I'd sponsored. He stood beside Laura, his eyes red. "Will, thank you for taking care of Laura all these years. But gratitude isn't love. You can't use it to hold her hostage." Laura turned her own gaze on me, cold with warning. "I've had ten thousand dollars transferred to your card. As far as I'm concerned, we're even now." Six years of my youth, poured into her, reduced to one unremarkable number on a bank statement. I watched the internet fill up with people calling me a homewrecker. I made one phone call. "Pull every film Laura Dawson has ever made. All of them." Laura, I regret it now. Now that you've made it big, the first thing I'm going to do is leave you behind. Chapter 1 After the awards ceremony ended, Laura Dawson had said something to me. "I'm grateful for the six years we weathered together, but love can't be forced. The day you brought Leo home, I knew our relationship wouldn't last. But we can still be friends." The very next day, the internet exploded with a hate campaign against me. The six years I'd spent standing by Laura got twisted into a story about me holding her hostage with old debts. She stood in front of the cameras, eyes rimmed red. "When he first confessed to me, I never meant to say yes. But he threatened me with Leo, so for six years, I did whatever he told me to. "I took the terrible scripts, went on the terrible variety shows, and gave my fans a bad experience because of it. I'm so sorry." Six years had sharpened her acting until it gleamed. She bowed, and tears hit the floor right on cue. The young man I'd helped raise up stood at her side, his eyes red. "Laura and I were afraid of what Will would do to us. For years, I never dared to even see her. I never dreamed we'd get to stand together in the spotlight like this. Thank you all for your support." Maybe she felt bad about how unfair it all was. Laura had an extra ten thousand dollars transferred onto my card. I almost laughed. In six years of running myself ragged pulling resources together for her, the loose change alone had been worth more than twenty thousand. I didn't say anything. Small stuff like that, I could just hand off to my PR department. The PR team I'd built myself, all those years ago, had originally existed to handle the ugly smear campaigns against Laura. Now I was using it to go after the very woman it had been built to protect. Then my department head called me. "Mr. Chappell, the whole department's decided to resign, all of us together. The letters are already on your desk. Sorry about this. We're done working for you." Before I could get a word out, the line went dead. I called around to the rest of the team in a hurry. Every single one of them had blocked me. The department I'd built with my own two hands, to protect Laura, had just kicked me out. I checked. Sure enough, they'd all gone to work for the new company Laura and Leo had opened together. I shrugged. They had no idea what kind of opportunity they'd just walked away from. I called around to other PR firms. But something was off. Agency heads who used to greet me politely every time now saw my number and hung up without a word. One of them, someone I actually knew well, picked up. But his tone was evasive. Chapter 2 "Will, I'll be straight with you. Your ex has been picked up by someone big, and now she's got backing. She wants to make her new boyfriend a star. "If you kick up a fuss, it's going to hurt Leo. As an old friend, let me give you some advice: take the money and walk away. Don't go up against whoever's behind her." Someone behind her? I let out a cold laugh. Who could possibly have more pull than me? For years, I'd been the one secretly pulling the strings, and Laura had never once known what I was actually capable of. All because she'd once asked me if I'd leave her behind if I ever made it big. I was afraid that if she knew who I really was, it would make her feel insecure. So for years, I'd deliberately kept myself small and lifted her up from the shadows, all so that one day we could stand as equals. Just as I was about to call my people, the hospital rang. "Mr. Chappell! Your father's being mobbed in his hospital room by a crowd of angry fans! You need to get here now!" "That's the mongrel's father! That mongrel harassed Laura and smeared Leo. His father can't be any better. Don't let him off easy!" By the time I reached the hospital, Laura's fans had already packed the entire hallway. Hospital security couldn't even force their way through. I brought my bodyguards and physically tore a path through the crowd until I finally found Dad, hiding in his room, covered in blood. "The mongrel has some nerve showing his face! Everyone, get him!" "We've been shipping Laura and Leo for three years, you piece of trash. Who do you think you are, sticking yourself to her like this?" Just as their phones were about to come down on me, Dad, bloody as he was, tried to shield me with his own body. Then the police showed up. "Police! Everyone, put it down!" Only then did the weapons in their hands stop short of hitting me. They rushed Dad off to get treated. Furious, I called Laura. "You told those fans where Dad was, didn't you? You and I were the only two people who knew which hospital he was at." Laura went quiet for a moment first. Then she spoke. "Maybe one of the fans dug up the information themselves. I know you're upset that your dad got hurt, but you can't just go around accusing me." She hung up before I could answer. What she didn't know was that I still had her account password. I logged into her account. In her fan group chat, I found the message where she'd posted Dad's address and information herself, and my hands started shaking. Dad had treated her like his own daughter. After her own parents died, every time he cooked, he'd always set aside a bowl for her too. Before I could even take a screenshot, I got kicked offline by force. I knew Laura had noticed. There wasn't even time to be angry, because the doctor sent me a warning. Dad was elderly, and the beating had left him bleeding heavily. He needed to be transferred to a better hospital right away. "Then transfer him!" I was frantic. "But... Mr. Chappell, there's no money left in your account to transfer." I froze. Dad's medical account was tied to my own private bank card. It had nine digits on it, at least. There was no way it could be empty. I made call after call. Finally, a friend at the IRS told me what had happened. "Someone reported you for suspected money laundering. All your accounts have been frozen for emergency review. Don't worry, if the review clears you, they'll unfreeze it." I felt like I'd been dropped straight into ice water. My friend hadn't told me exactly who had filed the report. But whoever it was had been able to fabricate evidence of money laundering against me. The only person with that kind of access was the woman who'd shared my bed for six years. Chapter 3 I hadn't done anything like that. The authorities would clear my name eventually, I was sure of it. But while I cooperated with the investigation, every asset I had stayed frozen. That delay was going to cost Dad his life. And worse still, the internet had already broken the story that I'd been laundering money. Laura stood in front of the cameras, her eyes rimmed red. "He's very controlling, and he's done a lot of terrible things to me and to Leo. But he really did help the two of us once, a long time ago." "I never imagined Mr. Chappell was this kind of person." Leo's eyes turned red. "Is it because Laura and I fell for each other that he lost control and did something like this? If I'd never fallen for her in the first place, would none of this be happening?" Laura gripped his hand tight. "No. None of this is your fault." Photos of Leo's dramatic teary eyes went viral across the whole internet. A picture of Laura holding Leo's hand shot to the top of the trending list. And I became the vicious ex who'd tried to tear two lovers apart. [You two had better stay happy forever and shove it in that mongrel Will Chappell's face!] [I'm literally crying happy tears for these two. They finally got their happy ever after!] I clenched my fist. I had two choices. Either I kept cooperating with the investigation and let it cost Dad his chance at a better hospital. Or... I could actually launder money. … In the end, I gave up on that idea. I scrambled to arrange emergency financing instead. But the lending platforms that used to approve me instantly turned down every application I sent in. I refused to give up. I figured it was just a temporary block because of the money-laundering allegations. So I borrowed a friend's identity and tried again. The result was exactly the same. Just as I was completely stumped, someone in the industry who usually got along with me quietly let something slip. "Will, don't bother. Laura has put out word in the industry that nobody's allowed to fund you. Whoever's backing her is someone we don't dare cross." He hung up and blocked me before I could even respond. I never expected Laura could be this ruthless. She'd already used me as a stepping stone to launch Leo. And she still wasn't done sealing off every road I had left. There was nothing else to do. I turned my attention to the bank card Laura had given me. I'd once told her, with contempt, that I'd never touch her spare change. But now I had no choice but to swallow my pride. Before the truth came out, I needed that twenty thousand dollars to save Dad's life. I ran the card. The balance came back at zero. "Mr. Chappell, once Ms. Dawson heard about the money-laundering allegations, she contacted the bank right away and pulled that twenty thousand back." I nearly lost my footing. One of my men caught me just in time. My fist trembled. First, she'd reported me for money laundering. Then she'd snatched back the twenty thousand before I could even use it. The two of them had used the time I spent cooperating with the investigation to farm even more public sympathy in front of the cameras. Watching Leo's popularity climb higher and higher, I finally understood what Laura was really after. Was she really in that much of a hurry to build Leo's career on top of my grave? I called her. She was quiet for a moment, then sighed. "It's just like how you couldn't help yourself when it came to helping him. I couldn't stand to watch him stay a nobody in this industry either. Will, the day you brought him home, I knew there was no future for us." I nearly crushed the phone in my hand. Her tone stayed perfectly even. "I'll admit it. I used you for this. I'll cover your dad's transfer to a better hospital, though." Chapter 4 The call ended. The money hit my account. Given the situation, I had no choice but to grit my teeth and accept it. Once this was all over, I was going to get my revenge. … Dad's condition stabilized. But only for the moment. The follow-up treatment was still going to cost a fortune. And of course, the extremist fan who'd attacked Dad was as arrogant as ever, willing to sit in jail rather than pay a cent in compensation. My accounts still hadn't been unfrozen. Friends pooled money together to help cover part of the medical bills. But it was only ever a small part. The hospital said if I couldn't raise more money, Dad would have to be moved to a regular ward. I sat against the wall in the hallway, listening to the steady beeping of the machines hooked up to him, and for the first time I couldn't see any way out. "Mr. Chappell, I heard you need money." A few strangers stood in front of me. "We can offer you a loan. It just depends... on whether you want the money badly enough." The man showed me his company's lending platform. It wasn't a licensed one. And it came with sky-high interest. I knew exactly how risky this kind of loan was. But I didn't have a choice. Once my accounts were unfrozen, I could pay off this predatory debt in an instant anyway. "Where's the contract? I'll sign. I'll take anything under fifty percent interest." I held out my hand. But they just smiled. "No need to rush. We can actually offer you an interest-free loan." I froze. "As long as..." The one leading them gave a knowing smile. "You're willing to put up nude photos as collateral." "I'll take the high-interest loan instead." My brow furrowed. "Sorry, then. Ms. Dawson said she'd only do the nude-collateral deal with you." My eyes went wide. Laura again! Why did she have to push me this hard? The nude-collateral contract was pushed toward me. Either I signed, and Dad's medical bill got paid immediately. Or I watched him die. I still couldn't do it. I tore up the agreement. "Idiot." The man let out a cold laugh. "We're the only ones willing to give you money. You'll regret this soon enough." I felt heat rush straight to my temples. I went to the bathroom and splashed water on my face to clear my head. The moment I came out, I saw Dad being dragged onto a stretcher and dumped in the hallway. I rushed over and grabbed the staff. They were impatient with me. "There's no money left in the account. These machines cost ten thousand dollars a day to run, and there are paying patients waiting for them. "We're a private hospital. We eat our own losses. We don't have time to waste on your father!" "No!" Dad hit the floor. I threw myself down and pulled him into my arms. "Ms. Dawson said that offer's still on the table, if you want to reconsider." The staff member clapped his hands and turned to walk away. There was a sneer on his lips. "How does a guy like that end up crossing Ms. Dawson, anyway? Please. Everyone knows who's backing Ms. Dawson. This guy really doesn't know how big the world is." My arms tightened around Dad into fists. I stopped hesitating. I dialed an overseas number. "Shut down every Wall Street operation! Get everyone on a flight home, now! And start up the cross-border financing. Get ten million dollars added to my account!" "Understood, sir!" The phone trembled slightly in my hand. I gritted my teeth. Laura, I never wanted this to get so ugly. You're the one who pushed me to it.